can plasma (instead of serum) be used on cell culture? - (Sep/17/2007 )

Hi everyone:

I am planning an experiment to look at the effect of various plasma factors on inflammation in cell culture. The plasma factors I am interested in are very labile, so I can’t have the plasma samples sitting around for any length of time once they are isolated. The protocol in our lab has always used serum on cell culture. But to get serum, I need to first wait for the blood to coagulate, which is not ideal because I would like to use the samples on cells ASAP.I am a new comer to cell culture. I have read couple of studies using plasma on cell culture, but would still like more information.Could anyone give advice on:1) what are the cons of using plasma instead of serum on cell culture?2) Is it generally accepted to use plasma on cell culture?3) What are the pre-cautions I need to take when using plasma on cell culture?

Thanks heaps for your help.

-hazel brighteyes-

If your cell culture medium has Ca2+, Mg2+, then obviously you will turn plasma into serum rather quickly.

-genehunter-1-

i dont think that to detect these inflammation effects you would have to raplace all the serum with plasma as these effects usually have very low limits of detections.

why not harvest the cells normally with serum than add fresh plasma? you wouldnt have to change your protocoll (changing established protocolls is a dull job believe me).